A Tale of Two Commissioners: Why the Herald Endorses Nafisa Fai Over Ethics-Clouded Pam Treece

The Real Story – A Column

The Hillsboro Herald is endorsing Nafisa Fai for the Chair of the Washington County Commissioners over Pam Treece and Jenny Kamprath.   We do not take this lightly, and it comes after watching her do really great work for the people of Washington County over large corporations and special interests.  Here, OreStar reporting also tells the tale of a candidate who does not take money from big companies or donors.  She stands up at every turn and, in her 6th year as a County Commissioner, has several landmark actions that set her apart.  Her insistence on keeping River Road open (1 lane) over the past 6 months was notable as the other commissioners, led by Kathryn Harrington and Pam Treece, scoffed at her. She also tried to fight to keep our Washington County Museum (5 Oaks Museum) open.  Again, she was demeaned and silenced.  There are many more examples, such as keeping Washington County’s DEI policies in place- also slapped down.  But through it all, Fai, a Black Somalian immigrant and Mother of three, has endured.  She is forceful, strong, and patient. In a heavily white and moderate County, one has to appreciate how great a listener and problem solver she must be to succeed as she has.  And the antics and outright verbal abuses that Kathryn Harrington is known for and has been investigated for have been leveled against Fai almost weekly.  How she has survived is a wonder. 

Watch her hold her ground against Harrington and Treece here in the recent River Road meeting; no one does that to Harrington, and she does and has.   We are in tough times, and she is a tough leader focused on our people, their needs, and on delivering the best value with the budget we have.

For these and so many other reasons, we heartily endorse Nafisa Fai for County Chair and truly believe this is a must if people in our County expect any real change.  So VOTE FOR FAI.

We do not know Jenny Kamprath well enough to say much about her, but her platform is fiscally conservative, which is great, while her immigration and right-leaning views on other issues seem a bit out of step with our county’s composition. We suggest you learn more about her at her campaign page- she has added a very strong voice that will resonate with Republicans and conservatives – https://www.jennykamprath.com/ 

Why Pam Treece Is Not Fit To Lead Washington County-

Pam Treece is in her 8th year as a Washington County Commissioner.  In that time, the County has gone from a financially robust entity to the verge of bankruptcy.  She spent years at PacificCorp, the large energy firm owned and controlled primarily by Berkshire Hathaway, BlackRock, and others.  Given Pam’s alliance with big energy, we have heard relatively nothing from her on the Data Center crisis we are in.  That is a problem, as it seems she is aligned with big energy.

Beyond that, she admits she was a Republican most of her life, and the record shows she switched her party affiliation to Democrat to win the County seat with a big salary and great benefits she enjoys. Ok, that is her right.  But one look at ORE-STAR shows that Nike’s Phil Knight just became her biggest donor.  Uncle Phil donates to Republicans and does so in the millions.  Why donate to Treece?  Knight, who typically spends millions to elect fiscal conservatives and Republicans to the state legislature, has seen fit to place a major bet on Treece. Well, we think he knows that anything she can do to help Nike, she will do.  No surprise, but voters need to know. 

Pam is also receiving significant donations from a number of the Energy companies, a who’s who of land developers and home builders, and the Washington County Chamber.  All of these ties are meant to fuel a “more of the same” leadership that has favored big energy, big corporations, and big business.   Her alignment with and time spent with the Westside Economic Alliance and the Washington County Chamber are also concerning, as these two entities are fully aligned with massive industrial land expansions in our County and have done nothing but facilitate the proliferation of Data Centers. tax giveaways like those being done by Hillsboro, and the constant onslaught of Companies over residents’ policies.   Treece is the protector of the big-money status quo and makes no bones about it. 

Specific Reasons We Can Not Endorse Pam Treece

Here are but a few of the reasons we believe Pam can not lead us in Washington County.  These are character flaws that reveal the morality and ethics she carries with her every day.

1)  Pam Treece – World Traveler For Clean Water Services – High-End Hotels And Meals – Ethics Violations Confirmed

In 2025, a major scandal broke regarding Clean Water Services and its questionable spending by CEO Diane Taniguchi-Dennis and other staff.  The Herald dug into these stories, and it became known that Pam Treece, Kathryn Harrington, Jerry Willey, and Nafisa Fai had all traveled on the Clean Water Services tab.  The Hillsboro Herald went through multiple public Information and records requests to see who went where and how many times.  The County and CWS did not release those records to us.  Believing there was fraud and or waste and not receiving records, the Herald filed an Ethics Complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.  That complaint led to a long investigation, and the outcome was that the CEO, Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington, and Washington County Commissioner Pam Treece violated Oregon statutes and laws.  Of note, Commissioner Nafisa Fai, who went on 1 trip, and Commissioner Jerry Willey, who went on multiple trips, were found not to be in violation of the laws. 

Treece and Harrington traveled all over the world together on the taxpayers’ expense. 

• • Five-Star Stays: The duo frequented luxury properties, including the voco Orchard Singapore (a 5-star hotel), the Crowne Plaza Vientiane in Laos, and the Toronto Marriott City Centre, which is built directly into a major league stadium.
  • The “Goodies” and Perks: Beyond travel, public funds were used for personal gestures, such as sympathy flowers ($77.95 for Harrington and $63.98 for Treece). They also shared a series of “IWA Dinners” and other high-cost meals charged to public P-Cards, with some single-meal costs for the group exceeding $200.
  • Lavish Travel Gear: Harrington’s records show over $1,000 spent on pre-trip “supplies” for the Singapore/Laos delegation, including power banks, portfolio folders, and high-end LifeStraw water bottles for the group.

• Frequent Flyer Fortunes: Both Treece and Harrington were found to have obtained prohibited financial gains by using their official positions to earn personal travel rewards and frequent flyer miles on trips paid for by Clean Water Services (CWS) or third-party partnerships.
• The Newark Loophole: Commissioner Treece was specifically cited for using CWS-funded flights to facilitate personal business extensions in Newark, NJ. By having the public pay for travel legs used for her private time, she avoided personal costs she would have otherwise incurred. Essentially, the investigation found that Treece used public funds to fly to her personal location, avoiding costs that any other citizen would have to pay out of their own pocket.

The OGEC Stipulated Order Against Pam Treece Found:

In her role as a Board Member for CWS, Pam Treece traveled to:

• Copenhagen, Denmark in 2022;
• Washington D.C. in 2023;
• New Orleans, Louisiana; Toronto, Canada; Vientiane, Laos, and Singapore in 2024.
• The preliminary review in this case identified that, for each of these trips, Pam Treece earned travel rewards in the form of frequent flyer miles.
• At the DC trip, “Pam Treece extended her trip by three extra days for personal business; she avoided a financial detriment of having to purchase her own transportation to/from Newark.”
• Regarding the Toronto Trip: “When Pam Treece extended her trip to the 2024 IWA Conference for personal business, she avoided the financial detriment of having to purchase her own airfare from Newark to Portland.”
• “Pam Treece did not publicly disclose her conflicts of interest when  seeking reimbursement for travel, which included personal business unaffiliated with her CWS business trip.”

OGEC Conclusion: “The results of the Commission investigation, if submitted through exhibits and testimony at a contested case hearing, would establish a preponderance of evidence in support of a post-hearing order to
find one violation of ORS 244.040(1) with one equivalent action and violation of ORS 244.120(2) with one equivalent action.”

Treece signed the Stipulated Final Order on February 24, 2026, admitting to violations for the prohibited use of her office and for failing to disclose conflicts of interest.

Janeen Sollman’s 1,700-acre land expansion has Pam’s Full Attention And Support

If you drive out to Jackson School Road, you will see a line-up of signs for Pam Treece, Janeen Sollman, and Steve Callaway. This is the lineup that fought viciously for the inclusion of the 1,700 acres of prime farmland on the West flank of Hillsboro.  In the last 4 years, this land has been the subject of two wild land use fights. Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 1586.  Senator Sollman took the brunt of the heat for these unpopular bills, which ultimately both were clobbered down.  But throughout these efforts, Treece was there, testifying in support of the inclusion of these lands for Data Centers, AI Factories, and Advanced Manufacturing.  Let me be clear, she is welcome to her opinions and to do what she wants.  But once again, we found direct ties to the landowners donating money to Pam’s campaign and her supporting them.  This pattern of donations followed by supportive testimony creates, at the very least, a significant appearance of a conflict of interest that voters must evaluate. 

Here is Pam testifying this year in favor of expanding the 1,700 acres of land without any local input.  The people of Washington County do not want this.  But again- Treece is not showing she aligned with our people, rather her land owners, energy pals, and donors.

So, because Pam will clearly use the Chair’s seat to promote this land expansion, we cannot endorse her.  When you see those poor people in Utah being told to shut up and sit down by their Council this week as they approved the largest Data Center in the history of the world, we must realize that would be the sort of thing we would likely get with Pam.

3)  The River Road Deception- This Just Happened

I mentioned River Road earlier.  This road closure has been destructive, causing over 1.5 million car trips to deviate by 12-18 miles.  It was done for a private developer, not the public’s needs.  Treece was one of 5 who voted to keep the road closed with no flaggers for 5 months and now has voted to extend that again.  Nafisa Fai fought for 1 lane to be kept open and was slapped down- but she really tried.  The real issue with this, as far as Treece goes, is that her campaign has taken money from the developer/builder, and she stayed silent.

The New Home Corp, LLC (TNHC/Risewell Homes) is the developer and has made donations to Treece’s campaign.  She failed to recuse herself or abstain.  The vote to close the road and to not require flaggers has certainly saved her donor untold riches in flagging costs.  Again, Pam chose her donors over the people’s interests.

Washington County Commissioners To Close River Road Into Hillsboro For 5 Months

Closing Thoughts:

The choice for Washington County is clear: We can have a leader who listens to the people and protects our farmland (Fai), or we can have a leader who uses public office to fund a global lifestyle while facilitating the interests of her deep-pocketed donors (Treece).  These are my opinions from what I have witnessed, which has been a lot.  It is time for new leadership, and Pam has proven that she is very far from that.

My family and friends and I are voting for Nafisa Fai- we want to see how much good she can do once given the chance.  Based on how far she has come, her record, and her determination, we are excited about a future with her at the helm.